Kassel/Baunatal, May 26, 2010 - The Volkswagen Group ranks among the top car manufacturers worldwide when it comes to sustainability performance. At Volkswagen we realize that sustainability – the responsible use of the Earth's resources and energy – is about more than just the fuel efficiency of vehicles. In fact, a sustainable approach is pursued by all of the company's divisions, and we are one of the few manufacturers with a parts supply system that complies with this principle. Along with its usual range of new parts ("Genuine Parts"), this has prompted Volkswagen to offer what it calls "Genuine Exchange Parts". In a worldwide unique process, old parts are industrially remanufactured under this label, given a new lease on life, and returned to the parts supply cycle, thus saving enormous amounts of energy and raw materials. This program also allows drivers of the VW Group brands Audi, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to purchase Genuine Parts that are up to 50 percent less expensive.

Volkswagen launched the exchange program six decades ago, at a time when the vast majority of people worldwide had never heard of the term environmental protection. The exchange program has made impressive accomplishments. The amount of steel saved by engine remanufacturing alone would be enough to build an additional 50 Eiffel Towers in Paris.

And there are a wide range of other results on the sustainability front. Engine remanufacturing has also made it possible to reduce CO2 emissions by 595,000 tons. That's enough for well over 500,000 Polo BlueMotions to be carbon-neutrally driven for an entire year! In addition, thanks to exchange engines, 687 fewer tons of nitrogen oxide (NOX) and 594 fewer tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) have been released into the atmosphere.

This has also produced huge energy savings of nearly a billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, or enough to meet the annual energy needs of some 220,000 families (four-person households). And word gets around: Genuine Exchange Parts are more in demand today than ever before. That's not surprising since factors like cost and sustainability now play a key role in the purchasing decisions of automotive consumers.

In order to make "old" parts "new" again – and do this better than anyone else – Volkswagen has dedicated an entire plant to this process. Located in Kassel, Germany, this unique remanufacturing plant is unlike any other in the world and it achieves a level of quality that is on par with Volkswagen's new car production.

Genuine Parts – the new parts

When talking about exchange parts, it's important to note that these remanufactured components offer the same quality and value as new parts. Everyone is familiar with what's behind the Genuine Parts label. These are the time-honored replacement parts that are produced in Volkswagen plants or by the company's suppliers. This includes everything from panels, like fenders and bonnets, to windscreens, to the lambda sensors of the catalytic converter to entire engines – in other words, practically every part used to manufacture a car.

Genuine Exchange Parts – parts that are as good as new

When it comes to Genuine Exchange Parts, the picture becomes a bit more complex. Most people immediately think of a repaired engine, and that's not entirely wrong. What is wrong, however, is the assumption that Volkswagen exchange parts – like the parts available at your local garage – are merely repaired. That is certainly not the case. In contrast to conventional "repaired" engines, which can be bought from a used car parts dealer for a few dollars without any warranty, Volkswagen Genuine Exchange Parts are as good as new – and sometimes even better. This is because even older parts are brought up to today's technical standards (see the chapter on Genuine Exchange Parts, starting on page 15). One thing is clear: Genuine Exchange Parts cannot be distinguished from new parts, either visually or in terms of their characteristics. The fact that both products come with a two-year warranty says it all. Only the part number gives it away: Genuine Exchange Parts have an "X" in place of the 11th digit – a symbol that attests to their sustainability!

Note:

The revenues, sales volume and workforce figures in this publication all relate to the 2009 fiscal year, unless stated otherwise. TDI, TSI, DSG and Twincharger are registered trademarks of Volkswagen AG or other companies of the VW Group in Germany and other countries. Information on accessories and technical data concerns only the models offered in Germany. This may vary for other countries.

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